Coleman Stryker

Coleman Stryker Lord General of Cygnar
Race	Human Caspian
Gender	Male
Weapons	Quicksilver- Mechanikal greatsword (upgraded twice) Disruptor Pistol
Birth	Fisherbrook, 585 AR

"Coleman in a word? Patriot." Captain Victoria Haley

Background

Coleman Stryker is one of the most prolific warcasters serving Cygnar today,having fought in every major battle in recent history. Though a humble soldier, he has proven himself to be an exceptional battlefield commander, a protector of his men and a hero for all of Cygnar to aspire to be. Though he had almost fallen from grace, Stryker kept himself from losing his way and continues to fight with righteous purpose.

Tactics

Commander Stryker is a versatile, defensive warcaster that focused on strengthening his men and keeping them alive. Though he possessed no outstanding abilities in any one field, he had tools for many different battlefield roles, with spells such as Snipe, Arcane Shield, Arcane bolt, and Earthquake. His special ability produced a strong magical barrier that protected all friendly combatants within a certain range. Both his gun and his greatsword Quicksilver also come with the disruption status effect, which directly shuts down a steamjack's cortex and preventing its controlling warcaster from empowering it.

As time passed, Coleman Stryker became much more eager to destroy Cygnar's enemies instead of protecting his people, and his abilities also became more aggressive in reflection to his personality. Where once he prioritized protection and defense, he now favored mobility and damage output. Though Stryker could still protect his soldiers from incoming fire with Deflection, he prefers to get stuck into melee combat with Positive Charge and Velocity, which empower the speed of himself and his battlegroup, and his special ability grants all friendly combatants around him with a burst of speed and an additional melee attack. Stryker's prototype armor could also boost his strength to superhuman levels, but would overheat and do damage to his body. If used too much, it would kill him.

Nowadays, Stryker seems to have found a healthy outlet for his aggressive tendencies: equestrian activities. Having taken up horseback riding as a hobby, Stryker is a lot more mellow, though he is still very eager to charge into combat. Even his gun-toting warjacks have no problem charging into melee, and he can protect himself around his warjacks with the spell Escort. Iron Aggression and Fury help the rest of his army get into close combat, and his special ability ensures that his army does not whiff on their melee attacks. Even his sword Quicksilver has been upgraded to shoot blasts of lightning, allowing him to holster his gun and give him a free hand to hold his reigns.

History

Early Life

Coleman was born in the town of Fisherbrook in 585 AR. His gift of sorcery had come from his mother's side, although she was forced to conceal it during the reign of Vinter IV and his witch-hunting inquisition. She had died while Coleman was only ten years old, and had given him a silver ring on her deathbed. His father was a warjack mechanik named Joseph Stryker, who served under Asheth Magnus and was injured during the Scharde Invasions. Despite Joseph's strong dislike of war and those who fought it, Coleman was hot blooded and passionate, eager to become a knight and a hero. Coleman would later discover his ability to control steamjacks in a desperate moment to protect his father from a killer named Sebastian Harrow. Soon after, Coleman would begin his service in the Cygnaran military, receiving early tutelage from Asheth Magnus.

Mk 1

Coleman Stryker was only 19 years old when King Leto Raelthorne took the throne in 594 AR. On the fateful day of the Lion's Coup, Stryker had started out on the side of Vinter's loyalists. By the end of the battle, however, he would follow his heart and lend his sword for Leto the younger instead. This would be the start of a very close relationship between Leto and Stryker.

During his warcaster training, Stryker recieved lessons from the elderly warcaster Commander Adept Sebastian Nemo. His lessons would be heavy-handed and difficult, but they sharpened Stryker into a talented battle-wizard and a leader of men. As further proof of Stryker's talents, he had learned to control a cantankerous Ironclad from the Scharde Invasions, nicknamed Ol' Rowdy, that proved to be aggressive to the point of uselessness. Stryker seemed able to temper Rowdy's fury enough that it could follow orders.

Young Stryker did not merely wish to wait for the enemy to come to him. He took on his own patrols across Cygnar's borders, battling the enemy wherever they presented themselves and gaining experience against all of Cygnar's most powerful foes. His brave actions had helped him rise swiftly through the ranks to the position of commander. King Leto himself was present as Stryker was awarded his position, and the younger Raelthorne had come to trust Stryker implicitly to look after Cygnar's people and interests.

Apotheosis: Conquest, Crusade, Conviction

After extensive fighting defending Llael from Khador and Caspia from the Protectorate of Menoth, a once idealistic Coleman Stryker had become hardened by the constant season of warfare. Coleman petitioned King Leto for a letter of marque, which would be granted to him, that promoted him to Lord Commander, granting him virtual carte blanche over Cygnar's military assets to destroy their enemies. It was Stryker that gave the order to Major Markus "Siege" Brisbane to have the walls of Sul broken down within three months. In that time, Coleman would carry his new flag, the black Cygnus, from Corvis back south to Caspia in a campaign of brutal menite persecution.

Stryker became a brooding, pitiless soldier, and many in Cygnar, his former mentor Sebastian Nemo included, did not approve of his actions. With the King's consent, Stryker had pardoned former inquisitors from their sentences to help him hunt down and interrogate suspected Menite insurrectionists, seize assets from the Church of Menoth, and burn down their temples. He would also seize all menite civilians to be taken to Bloodshore island in massive prison barges to live out the remainder of their lives in cells. Such was his hatred of Menites, some even suspected he would sink the barges as soon as they were out of view of King Leto.

His attitude for warfare became more aggressive as well, and required powerful arms to meet his demands. Stryker seized a prototype suit of armor from Nemo's own workshop. It was an unstable suit of armor relying on cyrissist technology not yet entirely understood by Cygnar's mechaniks, capable of frying a man alive in the suit if it was pushed too hard. Despite the risk, Stryker uses it anyway, increasing his strength to superhuman levels.

By the time Stryker had returned to Caspia, Major Brisbane had fulfilled his promise. Sul's walls had been broken under a protracted 3-month constant siege, leaving the menite city vulnerable to invasion. Stryker would lead a large battleforce, backed up by Major Brisbane and Captain Allister Caine in the urban fighting, and had nearly slain Priestess Feora in single combat.

Legends: The Price of Redemption

Stryker's battleforce had been fighting for a whole year in the city of Sul. The brutal fighting had only strengthened his hatred for the Menite menace, and he pushed deeper and deeper into the city. He had almost defeated Priestess Feora again, and had cornered her in a small temple filled with Menite civilians hiding from the invaders. In a desperate attempt to escape, Feora destroyed the supports of the temple, causing it to crumble and fall onto Stryker and the civilians. Stryker was faced with a choice: Abandon the Menites to their cruel fate and pursue Feora, or save the innocents and allow the enemy warcaster to escape. In that moment, Stryker found his mercy, and held the supports up with Ol' Rowdy long enough to allow the Menites to escape.

The falling rubble injured Stryker, and Rowdy had to carry him back to friendly lines. Stryker fell unconcious. He had spent six weeks in the Sancteum recovering from his injuries, and in that time the Protectorate mounted a devastating counter attack. A massive battleforce personally led by Grand Exemplar Kreoss, Priestess Feora, The Testament, The Harbinger, and Hierarch Garrick Voyle repulsed the Cygnaran forces and pushed deep into Caspia, threatening the innermost reaches of the city.

The Lord Commander initially sought to end the battle peaceably, going so far as to free the Menites he had once imprisoned. Voyle remained undeterred and so bent on conquest that he was willing to risk the lives of his own unarmed civilians, even as the Harbinger herself urged him to accept Stryker's offer. Instead, Voyle ordered Feora to fire upon Golivant's Gate, lined with freed Menite prisoners that wished to leave Cygnar to join the Protectorate. As High Paladin Dartan Vilmon stepped forth to protest, Voyle declared the paladin apostate and nearly stabbed the paladin for his defiance. His blade was stopped by the Harbinger's own body, who had intervened to save the paladin. As her body fell to the ground, Voyle charged at Stryker, blaming him for the confusion.

Coleman was nearly overpowered by Garrick Voyle, an incredibly talented priest and master of the Order of the Fist, and it took most of his strength just to keep Voyle at bay. Voyle disabled Rowdy with a single uppercut, dealt Stryker a nearly fatal blow, and knocked him to the ground. Before Voyle could finish off Stryker, the Harbinger passed her sword into Stryker's hand. Stryker lashed out, and the blade seemed guided by its own will as it defied Voyle's parry and skewered the Hierarch.

With the Hierarch dead and the Harbinger bleeding onto the cobblestones, the Menite forces lost the will to fight. Coleman Stryker had been challenged by the supreme spiritual leader of the Protectorate Menoth, and emerged from the encounter stronger than before. Not only that, he had found a way to balance his violent impulses with the need to protect the innocent, and once more fights for the people of Cygnar more than anything else.

Mk II

Colossal

In 608 AR, Point Bourne would be ground zero for Supreme Kommandant Irusk's latest push into Cygnaran territory, later suffering a surprise invasion of Cryxian undead that took advantage of Cygnar and Khador's fatigue battling each other. By the time Lord Commander Stryker arrived to reinforce the Point Bourne, he found the city in near ruins and his own military in an alliance with Khadoran forces. The sight of Lord General Olan Duggan of the 1st Army shaking hands with Supreme Kommandant Irusk caused no small shock for Stryker, but was willing to accept it, however tenuous it seemed. He would join the combined forces of Irusk and Artificer General Nemo at the first battle against the Necrofactorium of Lich Lord Asphyxious deep in the Thornwood. Though this was the trial by fire for Cygnar and Khador's first generation of Colossals since the Rebellion, They were still defeated by Asphyxious's krakens.

Reckoning: Deeper Obligations

Though the first battle was a defeat, Stryker would fight at the second attempt to destroy the Necrofactorium. With reinforcements from the north and south, as well as Protectorate support from Hierarch Severius and Anson Durst, this next fight proved too much for the Cryxian defenders.

Vengeance: Breaking Point

King Leto travelled to Point Bourne to personally examine the damage done and to speak with Coleman Stryker directly. He told Stryker that the time had come to retire the letter of marque that was granted to Stryker. Instead of maintaining a complicated exception that gratned Stryker unlimited authority, Leto decided to just promote Stryker to Lord General to remove any ambiguity of his trust in Stryker's ability.

Following up the destruction of the Necofactorium, Lord General Stryker sent Captain Kara Sloan, Captain Jeremiah Kraye, and Knight of the Prophet Constance Blaize to pursue the elements of Cryx retreating from the Thornwood towards the Wythmoor in southeastern Ord. Stryker directed most of his remaining army to himself and Blaize to personally fight the Cryxians. Blaize fought the smaller force led by Lich Lord Malathrax, while Stryker engaged his forces against the larger army of Lich Lord Terminus.

The Lord General led a glorious charge atop his warhorse Valorous against the undead legions, the point of a spearhead of Storm Lances crashing straight into the Lich Lord. Even as Terminus glutted himself on the souls of Cygnaran soldiers, Stryker fought him to the bitter end. Soon, after a protracted duel, Stryker brought Terminus down onto his knees, and sent Quicksilver crashing through his armored ribcage. On the first day of 609 AR, Coleman Stryker rang in the new year with the death of a Lich Lord.

Mk III

Blood of Kings

Lord General Stryker served as King Leto Raelthorne's guard on his journey back to Caspia, but their travel became complicated by the arrival of Vinter Raelthorne, and his army of rebels. Vinter's army threatened to cut off Leto's trip at Fharin, and Leto's army was forced to engage. What followed was a three way conflict between Leto's army, Vinter's army, and a mercenary force led by Asheth Magnus. Stryker charged at Vinter on foot followed by a squadron of Stormknights. They began their assault with a barrage of voltaic shots, but their bolts were absorbed by lightning rods Vinter had spread across his army. Vinter then rolled between Stryker and Ol' Rowdy, evading both their attacks, and blocked a backstrike from Stryker without even looking.

Vinter proved his reputation as the greatest living swordsman on Immoren, toying in combat with the man who had defeated Garrick Voyle and Lich Lord Terminus. Stryker found every swing he made side-stepped and countered. Vinter had even taken a hit from Rowdy's quake hammer before single handedly destroying the heavy warjack. Stryker had almost fared just as badly, and would certainly have died that day were it not for the intervention of Asheth Magnus and Allister Caine.

Acts of War: Flashpoint

With Julius Raelthorne on the throne, Lord General Stryker found himself a less welcome sight in the halls of power. Though the young king was advised by Stryker's favored Raelthorne brother Leto the Younger, Julius himself had learned lessons from the likes of Magnus, and never sought Stryker's counsel as Leto did. Even the signing of the peace treaty between Cygnar and Khador, which Stryker had already doubted would work, turned out to be nothing more than a power grab for Llael.

Even more discomforting was that Julius had now tasked Coleman Stryker with the invasion of Llael. As if Stryker wasn't already uncomfortable enough with firing the opening shot in a new war with Khador, he was also asked to do so while serving alongside General Asheth Magnus, who has been recently officially pardoned by King Julius. Stryker was entirely opposed to Magnus serving in the army, considering he has spent the last 15 years as an outlaw wanted for crimes committed in King Vinter's name. One last slap in Stryker's face was that Magnus had brought with him a number of mercenaries that had worked for him to now serve in the Cygnaran army, notably Sebastian Harrow, a man Stryker knew to be coldhearted and homocidal.

Luckily, Stryker had a couple good friends to help him through this trying time, such as Stormblade Captain Garvin Tews, Storm Lance Captain Archer, and warcaster Major Beth Maddox. Stryker first arrived at Rhydden to speak with Colonel Stoyan Jarov and Captain Vayne di Brascio of the Llaelese Resistance at Greywind Tower for information on Khadoran military reserves in Llael. The Lord General then oversaw the Storm Division in taking Riversmet from Khadoran forces led by Kommander Izak Harchevich, the Iron Wolf. Stryker led his men to taking the Great Gate, the bridge serving as the eastern entrance to Riversmet, while Magnus worked with his own mercenaries-turned-trenchers in attacking the western entrance, as well as disabling a line of explosive devices below the bridge. After charging through the bridge and a brief urban engagement, Harchevich was forced to retreat. Stryker had taken Riversmet with surprisingly little damage done to the city.

Stryker did not have much time to celebrate, however. Tensions were still high between Magnus and Stryker as they quarreled over what to do with the explosive devices Magnus obtained from the bridge. It turned out these explosives were not bombs, but rather a toxic gas that had been developed by the Order of the Golden Crucible called "Devil's Gasp". Magnus believed it would be an effective weapon against a Khadoran invasion, which at present they were less than ideally equipped to fight, while Stryker saw it as a cruel and dishonorable weapon and ordered it disposed.

To make matters worse, The Cygnarans had been betrayed by Sebastian Harrow, who had freed kayazy prince Pytor Aleshko in order to bargain with the Khadoran military for a better commission. Stryker and Magnus had tried to prevent his escape, but were unsuccessful, and Harrow murdered Captain Tews while making his escape. This only drove the wedge between Stryker and Magnus even deeper.

Even so, there was still a war to fight, and so Stryker kept Magnus in service to help defend Riversmet from the Khadoran counter attack, led by Prince Regent Vladimir Tzepesci. Stryker had met Tzepesci's forces in the open field beyond the western entrance, and his storm knights were swiftly defeated by the Prince's massed cavalry. As Stryker's forces retreated, explosive devices triggered among Tzepesci's troops, spreading the devil's gasp through their ranks and forcing them to retreat. It was technically a victory for Cygnar, but one that left a bad taste in Stryker's mouth. Despite Magnus winning the battle with the devil's gasp, Stryker had him demoted to Major.

Acts of War: Aftershock

Lord General Stryker has drawn plans for the next step in the invasion of Llael. While Major Maddox holds Riversmet, Stryker will take the rest of his Storm Division to seize Rynyr. Meanwhile, the 1st army will prepare a massive force to besiege Merywyn, preventing them from sending reinforcements to Elsinberg, which Stryker will target next after Rynyr. There is a snag in this plan, however, as Marshal Ashlynn d'Elyse has already led a force of the Llaelese Resistance to take Rynyr.

The Lord General sought to negotiate with d'Elyse to form an alliance with Cygnar, to help free their country from Khadoran oppression. Ashlynn refused, as she believes it is not in Llael's best interests for the Resistance to owe favors to Cygnar. She had taken Rynyr for herself, acting on information that suggested the city was evacuated due to a failure in the machinery regulating the volcano underneath the city, and Stryker's forces were not allowed to enter Rynyr.

Stryker adapted and directed his forces to take Elsinberg instead. The 1st Army would soon be approaching Merywyn, granting the Cygnarans a prime oppurtunity to take the city while Merywyn is defending from a siege. He also found himself depending Magnus more and more. Magnus had talents in information gathering and strategy, as well as a certain sense of honor and patriotism, that Stryker was beginning to appreciate. Because of this, Stryker allowed himself to incorporate Magnus into his plan to seize Elsinberg.

Elsinberg was taken fairly swiftly, with Stryker pounding his artillery on the western gates while Magnus approached from the east. The battle was not over yet, however, as Merywyn still had enough time to spare some forces to Elsinberg before committing to the 1st Army siege. Supreme Kommandant Irusk had sent his warcaster apprentice Kommander Andrei Malakov ahead from the north with heavy artillery pieces to occupy the defenders while Irusk's much larger forces approached from Merywyn. When Stryker and Magnus saw the size of Irusk's army, they realized they aimed not to retake Elsinberg, but to destroy it.

Despite the civilians and fighting Khadorans in the city, Irusk's forces fired upon the city, leveling most of the buildings and forcing the defenders, invaders, and innocents alike to abandon Elsinberg to Khador's guns. Stryker was unable to make it out before the shelling began, and had been buried under a pile of rubble. Protected by his power field, Stryker rescued his comrade Captain Archer, whose leg was mangled by the falling rocks. He then disguised himself as a Llaelese refugee and tried to make it back to Rynyr, although he was discovered by a squad of Iron Fang Uhlans, and would have been captured if not for the help of Ol' Rowdy and a young boy just discovering his warcaster potential.

Stryker made it back to Rynyr and sent a message to Ashlynn asking for another parley. They recieve an acceptance, although Stryker and Magnus discover it is naught but a trap set up by Harrow to assassinate them. The warcasters barely escape Harrow and his thugs wielding armor-piercing carbines, and find out that Ashlynn had also been betrayed by Harrow, who had been posing as a Resistance informant while on Khadoran commission. Ashlynn grudgingly allows Stryker an audience, and explains that she is skirmishing with a force of Assault Kommandos, suggesting not only the prescence of Assault Kommander Oleg Strakhov, but also that the rumors of the Rynyr machinery failure were but a ruse.

Stryker again offered his help in seizing whatever objective Ashlynn hoped to obtain in Rynyr, and while she did not promise an alliance between Cygnar and the Resistance, she promised to consider it, and accepted his help. She explained that her objective was the citadel fortress complex at the bottom heart of the city of Rynyr, where she believed Lukas di Morray, the Aurum Legate of the Order of the Golden Crucible was being held by Strakhov's Kommandos.

Before the assault, Stryker was surprised as Magnus brought him a prisoner. Without informing Stryker, Magnus had gone out of his way to capture Sebastian Harrow before he could escape Rynyr. Stryker understood that Magnus could have killed Harrow himself and he would not have been angry, but Magnus brought him to the Lord General so that he could decide for himself what was to be done with Harrow. Stryker ordered his immediate execution without a trial, and allowed Magnus the courtesy of executing him.

The three warcasters agreed on a plan to assault the citadel. The plan worked, but suddenly the lava at the bottom of the volcano began to rise and swallos the lower citadel. This forced all but Stryker, Magnus, Ashlynn, and a handful of other comrades and warjacks to retreat while the warcasters fought their way inside. They would have drowned in the lava had Magnus not unleashed a devastating spell that knocked away the Khadoran defenders that prevented their entrance. Once inside the citadel, Stryker, Magnus, and Ashlynn fought their way foot by foot through the halls, staying close together to avoid ambushes.

When they reached the prison sector, Strakhov confronted the warcasters, shielded by a battlegroup of warjacks, including his own personal model Torch, as well as number of Man-o-War knights and his own hand-picked assault kommandos. Stryker and Ashlynn fought as hard as they could, but they were too outnumbered and Strakhov was too well defended to confront directly. They were nearly overwhelmed before Magnus returned with the Aurum Legate and his wife, Alyce di Morray, both empowered by their Order's alchemical concoctions. This was just enough to break the stalemate, and the three warcasters, The Aurum Legate, his wife, Ol' Rowdy, and mechanik William Harcourt barely escaped the citadel with their lives.

[Note: Citations coming soon, please don't delete this article]